The present invention relates to an apparatus for cleaning and sealing a vehicle heater and especially to an apparatus for cleaning and sealing a vehicle heater without removing the heater from the vehicle.
Most vehicles today are sold with heaters for heating passenger compartments or cabs and these typically have a heat exchanger core mounted inside the passenger compartment and connected through liquid pipes to the vehicle engine cooling system for circulating the heated coolant through the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger includes a blower for removing the heat from the heat exchanger core and blowing it into the passenger compartment. It may include various types of thermostatic controls for monitoring the temperature in the passenger compartment. Vehicle heaters are connected through the vehicle fire wall between the passenger compartment and the engine compartment and has flexible high pressure and temperature hoses, including an inlet hose for directing liquid from the engine coolant system through the heat exchanger core of the vehicle heater and an output line for directing circulating fluid back into the engine coolant system. The flow through the heater is generated by the engine water pump which pumps the coolant, which is typically a mixture of water and a coolant solution, for cooling the engine. Cooling systems in internal combustion engines may require a variety of repairs, such as replacing a thermostat which maintains the temperature of the coolant solution in the engine at a predetermined level and replacing the water pump which circulates the coolant solution. If an engine radiator core develops leaks, the core can be readily gotten to, removed from the engine and soldered or the entire core may be resoldered and then replaced on the engine. Leaks in vehicle heaters which are located in the passenger compartment are more difficult to remove from the vehicle and repair and thus becomes a very expensive item to repair if leaks develop in the heater core. In addition, the leaks release the coolant solution into the passenger compartment, which can do damage to the inside of the passenger compartment. Very minor leaks in the coolant system can be repaired by the feeding of sealant solutions which can be purchased and added to the coolant solution to seal leaks. However, these operate on only very minor leaks since a proper repair requires that the inside of the pipes and soldering joints be thoroughly cleaned and resoldered or resealed at a higher temperature level.
It has been known in the past to provide various systems for cleaning the entire cooling system of a vehicle by connecting pipes at some connecting point to the coolant system and flushing cleaning solutions through the entire coolant system. However, the present invention is adapted specifically for the cleaning and repair of heater cores in a rapid manner without having to remove the heater core from the vehicle and is provided in one compact unit on wheels having flexible water and liquid lines connected thereto.